Gates and Mastercard Foundations Partner with Opportunity International
In an effort to reach people living in poverty in rural areas, Opportunity International has researched and implemented new products and platforms such as mobile banking, savings services, agricultural finance, cell phone banking, education finance and much more.
Because they believe in Opportunity International’s innovative model, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The MasterCard Foundation are partnering with Opportunity in sub-Saharan Africa, where less than 10 percent have access to financial services. The joint $16 million project announced today will provide access to savings accounts to over 1.4 million people living in poverty, including 950,000 in rural areas. In addition, the program will benefit more than 90,000 smallholder farmers by providing agricultural credit, helping to increase crop success, developing strategic partnerships with extension service providers, and equipping farmers with training and market linkages.
“Opportunity International is grateful to the MasterCard Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for their support which will help agriculturally-based communities transition to thriving and diversified economies,” remarked Kadita “A.T.” Tshibaka, CEO, Opportunity International.